Use gears to jump an insect

2013/09/17 Leturia Yurrita, Iñaki - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

A jumping insect from the hemiptera family uses gears to not lose control when jumping. The species Issusco leoptratus makes jumps of almost one meter and is emitted in two milliseconds. In this flight, to go straight, it is essential that the rear legs make strength at the same time, and for this use a solution that is already known in engineering. To achieve the synchronization of the limbs between both legs there are teeth or notches like those that have the pieces of the watches. So far this mechanism was, in the opinion of men, an invention.

Gears are used only by young specimens when they are in nymph phase. As the exoskeleton hardens, they lose the notches between the legs, because when the body is larger and harder it is easier to maintain balance.

The discovery was made by the zoology department of the University of Cambridge and is the first example of the use of gear gears in nature. But it is not the first time that the basic solutions used by engineering or mechanics appear in animals or plants. In 2011, German researchers found a system similar to the screw thread when studying the binding of the legs of a species of beetle to the body.